Free Tokyo Surprise by Alex Ko Page B

,” said Jessica. “It’s so realistic. It’s set up just like her video for ‘Dreaming of You’. Just look at that dress .”
    Josh was looking. The dress had to be about ten metres long, wrapping the waxwork in artful folds. It was made of some kind of shimmering cloth that changed colour as they walked around the
display.
    Team O spread out around the room. Mr. Yamamoto leaned close to Josh’s ear.
    “Mimi says to stay alert. It would be just like Mr. Yoshida to hide Kiki somewhere near here.”
    Josh looked around the room. There was a door marked Staff Only. Maybe Kiki was in there, hidden away from the public? He nudged Jessica and started to walk towards it, letting his path take
them a couple of times round a blond pop star and in between the cast of a famous movie musical, until they were passing by the door.
    “Ready?” Josh whispered to his sister. Jessica nodded, her face pale. Then he took a deep breath, grabbed the handle and flung the door open.

 

    Josh braced himself for wailing alarms and the sight of Kiki tied to a chair, but he didn’t get either. The room was a store cupboard, full of wigs, costumes and bits of
waxwork, including a box of arms and a shelf of heads.
    Beside him, Jessica sighed. “Good try,” she said.
    “Hey!” cried Mandi, rushing up to them. “Really, you cannot go in there.”
    “Josh, Jessica, you stop that this minute,” said another voice. Josh turned. Granny was smiling and bowing to Mandi. “Please excuse them, they are half-English. They’re
staying with me for the summer.”
    “Oh, well, please keep a better eye on them in future,” Mandi said.
    “I will,” said Granny.
    Mandi still looked a bit doubtful.
    Mr. Yamamoto stepped up and bowed to her. “Mandi-san,” he said, giving her a sparkling smile. “Have you ever thought of becoming an actress? I think you’re far prettier
than any of the figures here.” Mandi giggled, completely distracted from Josh and Jessica.
    “Keep looking,” Granny murmured to Josh. “It was a good try – but it would be better if you try not to draw attention to yourselves again.”
    “Right,” Josh said.
    Mandi ushered Team O into the next room, which was much less crowded and seemed to have no particular theme. Mr. Yamamoto stuck by her.
    They walked along a corridor and past a big metal door, with two burly men in black suits and sunglasses standing guard. One of the guards fixed Josh with a suspicious glare as they passed.
    “I’m reading lots of human activity through there,” Sachiko whispered when they were out of range. She showed Josh and Jessica her camera – the screen showed a
heat-sensitive scan of the area around them. “Lots of body heat behind that door.”
    “That has to be where they’re keeping Kiki,” said Jessica. “But how can we get in?”
    “Follow our lead,” Sachiko said.
    They came to the end of the tour and found themselves approaching the exit to the museum. Mandi left them to find their way out, bowing to the women and letting Mr. Yamamoto kiss her hand. After
she was gone, Mr. Yamamoto and Granny Murata split from their group, waving the other four members of the team off and beckoning Josh and Jessica to follow them into a bathroom.
    Inside the bathroom, where there weren’t any security cameras, Mr. Yamamoto opened up his backpack and pulled out four piles of clothing.
    “The museum will be shutting down for the night very soon,” Granny Murata said. “The others are going straight to the TV studio, to see if they can stall the music show and
give us more time to find Kiki. Sachiko has provided us with disguises, so we can keep looking.”
    “Here’s your cleaner’s outfit, Josh,” said Mr. Yamamoto, passing him some blue overalls and a black T-shirt. “And yours, Jessica.” Jessica’s disguise
looked exactly the same. “And to hide the fact that you are twins – here.” He passed Josh a baseball hat.
    “Quickly, please,” Granny Murata